Alan Cordner
|birth_place =Bridgewater On Loddon |death_date = |death_place =Gallipoli, Turkey |originalteam =Hamilton |draftpick = |heightweight = / 80kg |position = |currentclub = |guernsey =Gee. 4 Col. 1913: 4, 1914: 2 |years =1911–12 1913–14 Total |clubs = |games(goals) =3 (0) 20 (2) 23 (2) |sooyears = |sooteams = |soogames(goals) = |nationalyears = |nationalteams = |nationalgames(goals) = |coachyears = |coachclubs = |coachgames(wins) = |statsend =1914 |pcupdate = |repstatsend = |coachstatsend = |careerhighlights = }} Joseph Alan Cordner (6 May 1890 – 25 April 1915) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong and Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He was killed at Cape Helles in Turkey during the initial invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula by the forces of the First AIF (Australian Imperial Force) on 25 April 1915.Despite various suggestions given over time, related to particular individuals, it is clear that at least six former VFL footballers were killed during the chaos of the landing at Anzac Cove — Rupert Balfe (University, Alan Cordner (Geelong and Collingwood), Claude Crowl (St Klda), Charlie Fincher (South Melbourne), Fen McDonald (Carlton and Melbourne), and Joe Pearce (Melbourne) — it can never be definitively argued that one of these men was "the first VFL footballer killed in the First World War". Family The son of Isaiah Joseph Cordner (1860-1934), a bank manager, and Jessie Cordner (1865-1901), née Walker, he was born at on 6 May 1890 at Bridgewater On Loddon, Victoria. His father remarried Mabel Emilie McKay (1860-1969) in 1902. He had one full brother, Edward Clement Cordner (1892-1943), three half-brothers and one half-sister. He attended the Hamilton and Western District Boys' College from 1902 to 1906, and was a prefect in 1905 and school captain in 1906.Main and Allen (2002), p.44. Footballer As a schoolboy he was renowned for his long drop-kicks and his very strong marks. Recruited from Warrnambool, he played his first senior VFL match, aged 21, for Geelong, against Carlton, at Princes Park, on Saturday, 19 August 1911 (round sixteen). He was given the single game to gauge his prospects for the 1912 season; he played well for Geelong in a high standard match, which Carlton won in the last quarter.Carlton Beats Geelong, The Argus, (Monday 21 August 1911), p.4.] Although he played well in Geelong's first match of the season,[http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/11671302 Carlton in Fine Form, The Argus, (Monday, 29 April 1912), p.11.] he was not selected again until the match against University on 8 June 1912 (round eight). On a very windy day, with a bad football (it had been over-inflated), and in a very low standard game, which Geelong eventually won by 37 points, 8.15 (63) to 3.8 (26), he was not amongst Geelong's best players.[http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/11682575 Poor Game at Geelong: University's Weak Forwards, The Argus, (Monday, 10 June 1912), p.5.] Cleared from Geelong to Collingwood on 9 April 1913,[http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/10776906 Football: Permit Applications (J. A. Cordner, Geelong to Collingwood), The Argus, (Thursday, 10 April 1913), p.10.] he played his first senior game for Collingwood, at Victoria Park, against Carlton, on 17 May 1913 (round four); he played well, in the backline, in a Collingwood team that won a hard-fought match by six points.[http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/10784677 The Argus, (Monday, 19 May 1913), p.12.] In 1913 he played a total of ten senior games (of a possible nineteen) for Collingwood, including its Semi-Final 37 point loss to Fitzroy on 13 September 1913. He injured his collar-bone during the match, which was played in the rain, on a very wet and muddy ground. He remained on the field of play once injured, but was of little use.[http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/7250998 Spoiled by Rain: Fitzroy in the Crush: Collingwood Comfortably Beaten, The Argus, (Monday, 15 September 1913), p.12.] His half brother Laurence Osmaston "Larry" Cordner (1911–1992), and two of his cousins, Dr. Henry "Harry" Cordner (1885-1943) and Dr. Edward Rae "Ted" Cordner (1887-1963), also played senior VFL football. Dr "Ted" was the father of the Don Cordner, Dennis Cordner, Ted Cordner and John Cordner who all played for Melbourne in the 1940s. Soldier In 1914 he was working as a clerk, but he enlisted in Melbourne on 22 August 1914; the same day that he played his last match for Collingwood.Note: some accounts are mistaken: he enlisted for service in Melbourne, and his signature was witnessed by a "Captain John W. Hamilton"; he did not (as some assert) enlist at Hamilton, Victoria (see Service Record p.2). He was the first Collingwood footballer to enlist.See his father's comment on the AWM "Circular". He served as a private in B Company of the 6th Battalion, First AIF, and embarked on 19 October 1914, aboard HMAT Hororata, for service overseas. His brother, Sergeant Edward Clement Cordner (89), enlsted on 18 May 1914, serving in the 13 Light Horse.National Archives of Australia: World War I Service Record: Edward Clement Cordner (89) His cousin, Captain Edward Rae "Ted" Cordner, served as a medical officer in the 6th Field Ambulance.World War I Nominal Roll: Cordner, Edward Rae. His other cousin, Dr. Henry "Harry" Cordner, overseas at the time that war broke out, was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps, and served in France.The Argus, 29 August 1914. Death He died on 25 April 1915, shot some four miles inland, after being cut-off by the Turks and becoming separated from his Battalion at Cape Helles, the rocky headland at the southwesternmost tip of the Gallipoli peninsula. His body was never recovered. He was initially posted as "wounded" (in April 1915);The Argus, 25 October 1915. following a fruitless search of the relevant hospitals, he was posted as "wounded and missing" (in October 1915).The Brisbane Courier, 2 November 1915. He was not officially declared to have been "killed in action" until after some twelve months of investigation had been conducted by the Red Cross.The Argus, 12 June 1916. In an apparent act of kindness, the final declaration of his death was conveyed to his mother and father by the Reverend Thomas Pearse Bennett, the vicar of Christ Church, Warrnambool. Pearse, who was also an Anglican military chaplain,World War I Nominal Roll: Chaplains: Bennett, Thomas Pearse. had received the news by wire, that Cordner had been declared "killed in action", along with "expressions of sympathy with the deceased's parents from the King and Government", and took the news immediately to Cordner's parents at the Warrnambool National Bank.Warrnambool Standard, 3 June 1916. Remembered He is commemorated at the Lone Pine Memorial, on the Gallipoli Peninsula; his name is located at panel 46 in the Commemorative Area of the Australian War Memorial. See also * List of Australian military personnel killed at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915 * List of Victorian Football League players who died on active service * List of Australian rules football families Footnotes Sources * Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. * Main, J. & Allen, D., "Cordner, Alan", pp. 44–46 in Main, J. & Allen, D., Fallen – The Ultimate Heroes: Footballers Who Never Returned From War, Crown Content, (Melbourne), 2002. * [http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/10804190 Personal: Dr. Henry Cordner, The Argus, (Saturday, 29 August 1914), p.17.] * [http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/73581142 Personal, Warrnambool Standard, (Tuesday, 8 September 1914), p.2.] * [http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/1574537 Australian Casualties: 97th List Issued: Wounded: Victoria ("Pte. J. A. Cordner, 6th Batt., Warrnambool"), The Argus, (Monday 25 October 1915), p.5.] * [http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/20078317 The Roll of Honour: Two Further Lists of Casualties (102nd and 103rd Lists): Victoria: Wounded ("Pte. J. A. Cordner, 6th Btn. (and missing)"), The Brisbane Courier, (Tuesday, 2 November 1915), p.4.] * [http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2099820 Collingwood Club, The Argus, (Thursday 2 March 1916), p.6.] * [http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/73880815 Personal, Warrnambol Standard, (Saturday 3 June 1916), p.3.] * [http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2112464 Australian Casualties: 175th List: Killed in Action: Victoria ("Pvt. J. A. Cordner, Warrnambool, 25/4/15"), The Argus, (Monday 12 June 1916), p.5:] (Note: 13½ months after he was, at least, "missing"). External links * AFL Statistics: Alan Cordner * Australian War Memorial World War I Nominal Roll: Joseph Alan Cordner (180) * Australian War Memorial World War I Embarkation Roll: Joseph Alan Cordner (180) * National Archives of Australia: World War I Service Record: Joseph Alan Cordner (180) * Australian War Memorial: Red Cross Wounded and Missing Records: 180 Private Joseph Alan Cordner * Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour: Joseph Alan Cordner (180) * Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour "Circular": Joseph Alan Cordner (180) * Commonwealth War Graves Commission casualty Details: Cordner, Joseph Alan (180) Category:1890 births Category:1915 deaths Category:Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Category:Geelong Football Club players Category:Collingwood Football Club players Category:Australian military personnel of World War I Category:Australian military personnel killed in World War I